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FAR to the West, where the cloud na\'i€S of the sky seemed to 
rest their keels upon the earth, was a bank of something 
wondrously beautiful. The people of the Prairie, who saw it 
on every sunny day, said that it was the Rocky Mountaiiis. That 
seemed impossible. Never were the ctouds themselves less palpable. 
At every instant one half expected to see the exquisite mass lift 
up and float away or break and vanish, like mist that rises above 
the tree-tops and is instantly dissipated by the morning sun. 

The main reason why the spectacle seemed so unreal and un- 
substantial was that it defied both logic aud the senses. If it 
resembled anything substantial its features still suggested only 
what was impossible, for it was like a stupendous mound of tur- 
quoise upon which was heaped miles of emeralds, covered at the 
top with pearls and diamonds, suggesting crystal covered with 
snow. 

All have seen a heavj- block of purest ice through which a pow- 
erful light is shining, and have noticed tlie colors that the prisms 
of the ice develop. Nothing else known to man will suggest how 
the Rockies looked that afternoon. Yet the thought of miles of 
clearest ice lighted up by the sun offers only a hint of the scene — 
the reality was ten-fold as beautiful and lovely. 

Think then, O pampered reader, used to rolling through thne 
and distance in cushioned palace cars, what must have been the 
effect of this sight upon our fathers, the Pioneers, as they jogged 
toward the Rockies in creaking, hot and dusty prairie schooners 
in the years agone ! The sight gave every one new zest for his 
task of nation building. It was drink to the thirstj', food to the 
hungry, spurs to the bare of foot and a saddle to the weary. 

Ah ! but it was not only this. It was no illusion of a laud of 
promise — no dream that was to vanish when the mountains v.-ere 
reached. To every one the Rockies brought more than they pro- 
mised. In their vales ran crystal streams, 'neath their trees was 
cooling shade, fruits and berries rejoiced the waynxm bands, and, 
while perfect rest was offered, the invigorating air inspired all 
with increased energy. 

To-day the Rocky Mountains still invite the traveler — still re- 
ward him. The colcrs that distance lends them vanish at close 
approach, but only to reappear, with yet clo.'^er familiarity, in such 
a wealth of flowers that one half suspects it was their blossoms 
that gave them the gaudy hues they showed. Flowers deck their 
inclined sides in great blocks of color and litter their terraces and 
woodland edges in \'ariegated confusion. There is no difficult pass 
where they are not found, no dusky gleu that does not harbor 
them, scarcely any height on wliich some will not appear to glad- 
den him who toils to reach the summits. 

Julia:; Ralph. 



Jl7<^ (T[a\{iT)<^ of t\)e piou/i^rs. 

iS §aiP ffie f^ec| Man— cofiom none praiiie— 

ahi^ oconing poet'^ 6rea^f; 
«A ilreamer ffiro' fong cointer elau<&, 

©V^itfi <«.oi2g anc] /to7ij fiPe^t. 
iF§o' SfinS ro UmtPi, ficr Sooft Re /Scani^ei; 

¥fto' ileaf, fie tTiec] to fieav. 
arrange aS> fii/ (Cin<^ tfie t*afe/l» eacfi feanS 

Pa<S;4>e<^ on fi-om fijs fo ear. 

JfaYiC Sul" fo tftinS, 6^ iiacfiem^S gra^je 

¥o /iioniS of ah'ie^ib n^ac]e ftnocon, 
ilo/§oco ffio/e S)c\oriS> Yule atj^ Sra'je 

e^ pococr 6e^oni. ffteif ocorj. 
'E\S> fegci^i. tofc^ of pi-imaf c^aij/S, 

©^^eri ManiCou, fifte cfq>/, 
U§e gretj 7oeiC n^ounfa;i2 /fiape<S ^'^ ^ai^e 

Ho ce?e6rafe fii/ iicoaij. 

<Ke coaii) rjof pPca;«iec|. ©IRe mounfain*?) 6are 

@\l^ere SPeafe arjq cjuff ani gi-e^. 
(He i)i2ato^ec| a rainSooo froni fRe air, 

©To Ui&e it(S coPor^s) gau. 
dyumSPirjg it/ 6a7<&, coi!:§ cRarjfecj liipcPP, 

^^eir raglianil slu/^f Re C^reoo, 
«AnE evjertjoiRefe a Rat^i-fuP fePP 

cA miPPion fPocoVefii greco. 

JULIAN RALPH. 





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